Over the last 13 plus years as a business education teacher, I have attended the

GACTE summer conference several times. During my early years attending it

was very good. I learned a lot about various strategies and tools that I can use to

improve as a teacher. I attended some useful workshops that illustrated new

techniques and products. I had the opportunity to meet people all over the state

that did the same thing I did and swap stories, etc. But after about four years I

noticed that everything started to feel like a giant marketing and sales pitch for

the same products we saw every year. There were a few new ones but the

overwhelming majority was the same. The teacher led workshops and speakers

began to repeat the same stuff every year.

The first organization website I visited was the Association for Educational

Communications and Technology. Their website states that they are “a

professional association of thousands of educators and others whose activities

are directed toward improving instruction through technology.” Their members

include people in industries ranging from universities, the armed forces, hospital

and anywhere educational change is happening. The organization strives to

provide a forum to members to exchange ideas. They release two bimonthly

journals to keep their audience about new trends and developments. Their

mission statement says that they “provide international leadership by promoting

scholarship and best practices in the creation, use, and management of

technologies for effective teaching and learning.” Their vision statement says that

they “seek to be the premier international organization in educational technology,

the organization to which others refer for research and best practices.” They do

provide scholarships. Over all I feel that if they are reaching the right audiences

they could be a valuable organization. The next organization I reviewed was the

Georgia Educational Technology Consortium. It is a non-profit for people who

are interested in educational technology. They sponsor the annual Georgia

Educational Technology Conference and the Technology Fair, an annual

technology competition for students. They also award several Innovation Grants

to teachers every year. I found no mission or vision statement on their website.

The last organization I looked at was the Association for the Advancement of

Computing in Education. This organization mission is to advance Information

Technology in Education and E-Learning research, development, learning, and

its practical application. They publish journals and hold conferences for members

and they are about the advancement of computing in education. They offer $500

student scholarships to reduce the costs of travel and registration so students

“may have the opportunity to participant in professional AACE conferences.”

The Addition organization that I want to introduce is the International Society

for Technology in Education. It is a nonprofit organization that serves to help

educators improve their use of technology in education.

Upon entering the site you will notice statement that reads “WE ARE ITSE, we

help students, educators, administrators and coaches around the world use

technology to solve tough problems in education.” The idea to start the

organization came from a bunch of educators sitting around at a backyard

barbeque talking about “what ifs” and set out to make their idea/vision a reality.

Their mission statement says that they want to “inspire educators worldwide to

use technology to innovate teaching and learning, accelerate good practice and

solve tough problems in education by providing community, knowledge and the

ISTE Standards, a framework for rethinking education and empowering learners.”

The host conferences and release publications that are intended to guide/grow

technological growth in education.

References:

Association for Educational Communications and Technology

https://www.aect.org/

Association for Advancement of Computing in Education

https://www.aace.org

Georgia Educational Technology Consortium

https://www.gaetc.org/consortium

International Society for Technology in Education

https://www.iste.org